Photo Gallery: Week’s Photos for April 21-27, 2013

Photos from the fourth week of April 2013.

Photo by Dean Humphrey

Yareli Fuentes, 6, carries a sign “We want the American Dream” with her family of Grand Junction during a march for comprehensive Immigration reform around Sherwood Park to North Avenue and back. Hundreds marched in support and listened to speakers at a rally later in the park.

Photo by Dean Humphrey

Ed Marandola of Philidelphia, Pa. looks at a fat tire bike he may buy at the Fat Tire Festival in Fruita

Photo by Dean Humphrey

A controlled burn on the western slopes of Grand Mesa sent a plume of smoke into the air on Friday. The Bureau of Land Management was burning to clear old vegetative growth out of the Palisade watershed.

Photo by Dean Humphrey

Sean Bizer, right, and Dane Dulaney, right are part of a team of engineering students which built a Kinetic Wave sculpture for the project at the Student Showcase ar Colorado Mesa University.

Photo by Dean Humphrey

Engineering students Justin Edmonds, left, and Cody Baxter ready a charged vacuum cannon which will shoot a pingpong ball at the speed of speed of sound during the CMU Student Showcase.

Photo by Christopher Tomlinson

A golden eagle takes off from a tree in the James M. Robb Riverfront State Park Corn Lake Section. Golden eagles maintain territories as large as 60 square miles. They are monogamous and may remain together several years or possibly for life. They build huge nests to which they may return for several breeding years.

Photo by Dean Humphrey

CMU second baseman Braden Box turns a bases loaded double play to end the top of the 4th after putting out Bob Terry of Regis at second.

Photo by Stan Schrock

Madisen Hayden examines one of nine new exhibits at the Museum of the West on Monday. The museum is located at 462 Ute Ave.

Three blue herons settle down into one nest in a rookerie in cottonwoods on Cow Creek near Ridgeway. Later another heron landed in the same nest. The four of them scuffled with their beaks and settled into the nest. The rookery appears to have multiple nests active.

Photo by Dean Humphrey

A couple of riders, a cyclist and a equestrian share the trail between Albertsons and Connected Lakes kicking up a little dust along the way. The paved trail is a popular family outing with multiple opportunities to see wildlife.

Photo by Special to the Sentinel

Bella, a yellow Labrador, suffered a gunshot wound to the head after disappearing from her owner’s house in Montrose. The dog is on the mend and has been reunited with her owners. The Montrose Police Department is looking for the person who shot her.

Photo by Christopher Tomlinson

Josh Anders loves music.

Photo by Christopher Tomlinson

Ronald Sutherland hugs Kathryn Schulz and Bill Larsen in the background, the three were honored for 35 years of service during the 2013 School District 51 Salute To Our Staff event Wednesday afternoon at Central High School. Also with 35 years was Jo Pifer, not in photo. Schulz is retiring this year.

Photo by Christopher Tomlinson

The School District 51 Salute To Out Staff event was held at the Central High School gym Wednesday afternoon.

Photo by Dean Humphrey

Recent snowfalls on the peaks above Ouray may help the low snowpack in western Colorado and, at the very least, may have covered any dust that may cause early snow melt.

Photo by Dean Humphrey

El Tapatio on North Avenue.

Photo by Dean Humphrey

A freight train rolls through a vineyard, which is beginning to show green growth, east of Palisade on North River Road. Weather this week will warm up into the high 70s by the weekend in the Grand Valley.

Photo by Christopher Tomlinson

A close up of an orchid flower. The Orchidaceae are a diverse and widespread family of flowering plants with colorful and fragrant blooms, commonly known as the orchid family. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering plants, with between 21,950 and 26,049 currently accepted species, found in 880 genera. Selecting which of the two families is larger is still under debate, as concrete numbers on such enormous families are constantly in flux. Regardless, the number of orchid species equals more than twice the number of bird species, and about four times the number of mammal species. The family also encompasses about 6–11% of all seed plants.

Photo by Christopher Tomlinson

Photo by Gretel Daugherty

Oblivious to the chilly temperatures in the mid-40s, Adrian Sears, 5, pushes his little brother Joshua Apraiz, 4, toward the sidewalk along 27 3/8 Road as the two boys take turns riding and pushing their big wheel this morning. Today’s forecast calls for a high around 53 degrees, with temperatures sinking below freezing to around 30 degrees tonight.

Photo by Stan Schrock

Kate and Jill Almgren share a smile after Monday night’s Challenger Baseball game. The Challenger Baseball league gives special needs children the opportunity to play and enjoy their favorite sport while learning valuable skills in the process.

Photo by Dave Buchanan

It’s a long walk up the shore from Blue Mesa Reservoir, which last week was reported ice free. The boat ramps at the Lake Fork (shown here in July 2012) and Elk Creek marinas are open. Motorized craft entering Blue Mesa are required to be inspected for aquatic invasive species. As of Monday, Blue Mesa was 41 percent full.

Photo by Gretel Daugherty

Bob Kahler, left, and his wife Shirley with the Orchard Mesa Lions Club hand out bags containing Austrian pines to fourth grade students from a combined Dos Rios Elementary School class Monday at Mesa View Elementary School. The service club gave away 235 trees to students from Orchard Mesa elementary schools as part of the Fourth Grade Foresters U.S.A. program. Since the program was started in 2007, about 400,000 trees have been distributed around the country, with 20,000 given out in Colorado alone.

Photo by Gretel Daugherty

Independence Monument and Monument Canyon is one of many sights at the Colorado National Monument that are free to see from today through Friday in honor of National Park Week. The monument and 400 other parks across the country in the National Park system are waiving all entrance fees during this time.

Photo by William Woody

Six-year-old Micah Nichols readies his swing while attending a Montrose Youth Baseball and Softball Program hitting clinic at the Sunset Mesa Sports Complex Saturday April 6, 2013. The clinic was conducted under the direction of the Montrose High School baseball team.

Photo by Gretel Daugherty

A heavy equipment operator scoops up pieces of pavement from Spruce Street near the road’s intersection with White Avenue today. According to a worker at the site, A crew with United Companies is removing the pavement because of soft spots in the road bed that is causing the asphalt to warp. Plans call for a geogrid liner to be put down and the street repaved.

Photo by Dean Humphrey

Maggie Lopez arranges birdhouses that will be available in a silent auction to raise funds for Mesa County Libraries.

Photo by Gretel Daugherty

Stylist Carly Stewart shapes the haircut of 8-year-old DeBranna Shea on Sunday during the Locks of Love Cut-A-Thon, which was a fundraiser for Court Appointed Special Advocates, at Five 60 Salon and Spa in Grand Junction. DeBranna decided to donate 8 inches of her hair. The salon charged $15 for a haircut and $1 a minute for chair massages and donated 10 percent of the money to Court Appointed Special Advocates.

Photo by Gretel Daugherty

A worker dismantles the gym floor in the closed Brownson Arena at Colorado Mesa University.

Photo by Rachel Sauer

Ann Wright, foreground, and Melinda Mawdsley near the top of Mount Garfield, which looms over the Grand Valley’s east end. Mount Garfield is best hiked during the springtime or fall when temperatures aren’t as hot.

Photo by Rachel Sauer

Melinda Mawdsley, left, and Ann Wright stand at the top of Mount Garfield.

Photo by Rachel Sauer

The Mount Garfield Trail takes hikers along the edge of the Bookclifffs, and traffic on Interstate 70 can be seen and heard nearly the entire way.

Photo by Rachel Sauer

On the way down from the top of Mount Garfield, Melinda Mawdsley had enough energy and humor to strike a “senior picture” pose, because the hike was ... so worth it.

Photo by Ann Wright

Rachel Sauer, left, and Melinda Mawdsley make their way to the top of Mount Garfield.

Photo by Ann Wright

This marker declares the top of Mount Garfield. The mountain is about 6,800 feet above sea level.